Garment-measuring appliance.



W. AHLMGREN.

GARNIENT MEASURING APPLIANCE.

APPLlcATloN man Nov. so. 1914.

l l 99,725 l v Patented Sepf. 26, 1916.

'WAHLIBORG AHLMGREN, OF vNEW YORK, Y.

GARMENT-MEASURING APPLIANCE.

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

Application filed November 30, V1914;. Serial No. 874,740.

To all whom t may concern.' 4

Be it known that I, WAHLBORG AH'LM- GREN, a citizen of Sweden, and resident of the borough of BronX, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Measuring Appliances, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention appertains to the art of fitting ladies wearing apparel, and is particularly adapted for the measurement of the skirt or lower portion of various garments, such as gowns, robes, petticoats, mantles, cloaks, wrappers, and thelike. VFor .the sake of conciseness, however, the invention will be referred to herein as applicable mainly to the fitting of ladies dress skirts.

In its concrete form, the invention consists of an improved appliance ofthe class above mentioned, comprising preferably a wide-meshed net-work of wire constituting a plurality of frames hingedly connected together that are used, first, to locate the line about the hips or waist from which the skirt is to be measured in `order to determine its proper length, and subsequently are combined with other elements to decide the height at which the skirt should stand from the ground or floor, to comply with the dictates of fashion, or to meet any special requirement.

Primarily, the invention has for its object to provide `an easily operable and comparatively inexpensive garment measuring appliance by means of which alady can ascertain for herself and to her own satisfaction, if a skirt is of requisite length, or how it may be altered to suit, whether the garment rbe fashioned by her own hands, or

done at home, or, merely tried on in view ofV a conditionalpurchase, as for instance when a dress is sent from a store to a customer .on approbation. A subsidiary object is to produce an `appliance adapted for use eXteriorly of the garment when fitted to the person. This fea-A ture of the invention has .a triple advantage, in `that it maintains the appliance in sight of the lady who puts onthe skirt for selfmeasurement, .avoids injury vto the fabric however delicate it may be, and obviates ini `terference with or Vfrom the underclothing while .the skirt is being Vmeasured on the body of the wearer. v

Other objects :and advantages will become apparent as .the specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view the in- Ventron .comprises the improvements and combinations of parts Vhereinafter described in their 4preferred embodiments as illustrat-l ed in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the said drawings: Figure l is a top plan view of the appliance separate from the garment, but set out and clasped as when placed around the body; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation, showing the upper part of the appliance, as it appears when posiy,tioned overthe corresponding portionV of the skirt; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary edge View of an annular device used in connection with ythe appliance after taking the first measurement of the skirt at the hips or waist line; Fig. vt is a plan View of the said-device; Fig. 5 is an end view of the folded appliance minusthe said annular device; and Fig. 6

venient manner of supporting the skirt on the appliance for the purpose of marking out the correct height thereof at the bottom.

`is a full side elevation, illustratingva con As hereinbefore stated, the appliance in- Y 'cludes a number of wireV frames, which are jointed to one another vso as to constitute an lintegral entirety. By preference as shown,

each frame is composed of one vertical member 11, and two horizontal members 12 and 13, with the lexception of` either of the front frames, which comprises in addition a sec- Ond Vertical member 14. The length of the vertical members 11 and 14 is-determined by the individual height of the lady intending to use the appliance, being so gaged as to indicate the distance from the ground or floor to a line circumscribing the hips in proximity to the waist. In rear the vertical members 11 are somewhat longer than in `front in order to allow for the fullness of the back of the body. The horizontal members 12 and .13 meanwhile follow the said line of the hips and the ground or floor line respectively.v l

The aforesaid wire frames are flexibly interconnected in order that they may be spread .out flat, if desired,and thus' afford the greatest convenience ein' manipulating the appliance .and adjustingit in position over the skirt to be measured-as well as to enable vit to occupy the smallest space when Vstored away. The connections between the several framesare effected, as shown, by forming offsets 15 and 16 atA both ends of the Vvertiv `cal members., .and providing the .contiguous ends of the horizontal members with eyes'17,

` erence numeral 19, and indicated by dotand-dash lines. The said clasp may be of any approved type, and herein is shown as consisting of an inwardly directed offset portion 21, on the middle vertical member 11 of the appliance, adapted for engagement with a slotted plate 22, secured at one end to the adjoining vertical member 14, and thence extending transversely to another vertical member 11, on the right. A plurality of slots 23 are formed in the plate 22, each capable of receivingthe offset portion 21 of the said middle member, so as to permit varying adjustments of the appliance over the skirt and around the body. A duplicate clasp is provided for the meeting edges of the appliance at the lower end thereof, which is the counterpart of the upper portion of the appliance displayed in Fig. 2.

Braces 25 are employed, preferably to impart a desirable rigidity to the wire frames in a transverse direction. As many such braces may be used as are deemed eXpedient, but in practice it has been found suiicient to place only one or two in each frame, and to distribute them in staggered relation between alternate frames. An effective method, herein' shown, of attaching these braces is to form simple loops or convolutions 26 in the vertical members of the wire frames, and eyes 27 to engage the same at the two ends of each brace. In Fig. 1, for the sake of clearness, the braces 25 are shown as if they were offset inwardly, but in practice they are located substantially in the same plane as the vertical members 11, which is the arrangement represented in Figs. 2 and 6.

So far as described, the appliance contains the necessary elements to locate the upper line on the skirt, from which the length of the latter is to be measured, asV

hereinabove expressed. It is evident that a lady trying on a skirt and surrounding it with the appliance, standing endwise upon the licor and firmly clasped about the body, substantially in the manner delineated in Fig. 2, can very easily and quickly mark out the said upper line on the skirt, by taking a pieceof chalk and causing it to follow the series of upper horizontal members 12 of the interconnected wire frames. This may be done by hand, if need be, but is more accurately accomplished with the aid of a chalk-holder, as 30, which may have lips 31, adapted to embrace loosely the wires 12 on opposite sides, and a jaw 32, to maintain the chalk 38, in suitable position. The upper line having been traced upon the skirt as stated is now a known quantity, and so is the relation thereto of the floor line, which corresponds with the lower edge of the appliance, as will be understood. VTherefore, in order to determine precisely the distance at which the skirt will be raised from the floor, when donned for wear, it is merely necessary to adjust its length relatively to the said lower edge of the appliance, and this is best accomplished by removing the garment from the person and operating thereon eXteriorly of the appliance, for instance in the manner exemplified in Fig. 6.

As villustrated in the figure last named,

the appliance is supported upon a standard 35, rising from a pedestal 3G, and having radiating arms 37 at its upper end, adapted for engagement with some portion of the wire frames. To this end, the body of the appliance is provided with an intermediate ring 38, which is conveniently lodged within the 11p-turned ends 39, of the said arms. A plurality of similar rings 38 may be resorted to in order to enhance the rigidity of the appliance at two or more points. as Fig. 6 discloses. The preferred structure of these rings is detailed in Figs. 3 and 4, wherein'the same are shown as consisting each of a circular member capable of being parted at one point, and having one end externally threaded, as at 40, while the opposite end is formed into an eye 41. The threaded end 40 is fitted with a detachable hook 42, adapted to be screwed thereon and to engage the eye 41 of the end opposite. This construction enables the ring to be drawn moreJ or less tightly around the appliance and thus operate to maintain it in the exactk shape required. Connection between the ring 38 and the appliance may be made in various ways. As shown in Fig. 6, the several rings 88 therein displayed are merely passed through the same loops or convolutions 26 as have been provided for the braces 2,5, previously described.

For the purpose of inserting the ring 3S through the loops 26 in the vertical members 11, the hook 42 is detached from the screw threaded end of the ring, which is then free to be passed through the several loops in succession, after the manner in which a thread is passed through the eye of a needle. When the screw threaded end of the ring has been passed through all of the loops, the hub of the hook 42 is screwed vonto it again, far enough for the hook portion thereof to engage Vwith the eye 41 at th'e opposite end of the ring. It is obvious that in order to remove the ring a reverse procedure is followed.

One ring 38 is attached to the lower end of the appliance also by means of loops 26 in the vertical wire members thereof, in order to afford a guide for marking the line at which the skirt should stop short of the bottom edge of the appliance, correspond ing to thefloor line aforesaid. rIwo or more series of the loops 26 may be located above one another around the said lower end of the appliance, preferably at intervals of one inch or so between each series. The guiding ring 38 can be passed through either or any of the series, and thus will indicate where the chalk is to be applied to denote the height at which the skirt should terminate. Y In placing the skirt upon the appliance, as represented in Fig. 6, the upper chalk line is made to overlie the horizontal mem-` bers 12 of the wire frames, to which the skirt may be secured by any suitable fastening means; for example, by ordinary clothesclamps 44. rIhe waist band of the skirt will then fall within and hang from the upper end of the appliance. The latter it will be observed, could as well be suspended from some primary support located above it, as sustained from below through the instrumentality of a standard after the manner herein illustrated. Y

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my device, it will be understood that changes in the form, arrangement, size, proportions and details thereof, may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim is l. A garment measuring appliance consisting of a plurality of open parallelogrammic frames flexibly interconnected to permit their being clasped around the body outside the garment for marking a line adjacent the hips, and sufficiently rigid conjointly to enable them to support the garment from the inside when removed from the body for the purpose of laying out a' cutting line above the ground, said frames folding one upon another by superimposition so as to lie in parallel planes when collapsed.

2. A garment measuring appliance comprising a number of individually parallelogrammic open frames hingedly connected to one another and forming together a flexible quadrilateral adapted to embrace the body over the garment for tracing a line about the hips, the appliance being capable of insertion inside the garment to Asupport the same removed from the body to allow` it to bemarked at .the proper level above the ground, said frames admitting of being vfolded together in a lateraldirection so as to collapse in parallelplanes one upon another. Y l

3. A garment measuring appliance including a plurality of frames composedof substantially parallel members adapted to collapse flatwise one upon another, said members having intermediate retaining elements and transverse bracing connections engaging the latter, said frames being flexiblyk attached to one another to enable them to encircle the garment on the body at or near the hips lfor marking a line therearound, 3U and suficiently rigid conjointly to support the garment on the inside Vafter removal from the body for the purpose of marking the line of cut above the floor.

4. A garment measuring appliance comprising a plurality of substantially parallelogrammic wire frames having eyes intermediate their top and ybottom portions, braces parallel with said portions engaging said eyes in staggered relation to one an- 9o other, said frames being exibly connected to permit the upper portion thereof to surround the garment on the body for the purpose of laying out a line approximately at the hips, and possessing sufficient rigidity to stand apart from the body inside the garment so as to enable the latter to be marked the proper distance from the floor.

5. A garment measuring appliance consisting of open wire frames joined to one another, each of said frames including vertical and horizontal members, offsets v'formed near the juncture of said members at vone side thereof and Vengagement elements on the opposite side, the elements on one frame engaging the offsets in the adjacent frame, said frames increasing in height in a rearward direction to allow for the fullness of the garment on the body, the arrangement enabling the aggregate frames to be clasped llo around the body outside the garment for marking substantially the level of the hips,

.and also'to support the garment from the inside after removal from the body for 4the purpose of determining the proper cutting level from the floor.

6. A garment measuring appliance in-V cluding a plurality of open wire frames flexibly connected with one another, one frame being composed of two verticaland ,120 two horizontal members, the remaining frames having each one vertical and two horizontal members, an engaging element at one side of the latter named frames, and a coperating device carried by said first named frame and adjustably engageable by said element, said element and said device serving to clasp the frames around the body, the construction being such as to permit the assembled frames to be applied over the garment on the body for tracing a line thereon approximately around the hips, and

further to be supported apart from the body inside the garment for the purpose of marking a cutting line above the ground.

7. A garment measuring appliance comprising a plurality of parallelograrnmic wire frames having eyes intermediate of their upper and lower ends and flexibly joined together to permit their being adjusted around the body over the garment to trace a line thereon in proximity to the hips, one or more braces insertible through said eyes, and a hook and eye adjusting device for each brace imparting rigidity to the aggregate frames in order to support them inside the garment when removed from the body for the purpose of outlining the proper trimming level abovethe ground.

Signed at the borough of Manhattan in the county of New York and State of New York this 28th day of November A. D. 1914.

VVAHLBGRG AHLMGREN.

Witnesses:

H. C. KAnLsoN, W. H.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington. D. C. 

